All You've Ever Known
by betaTrickster
Summary: John Egbert has been kept on a tight leash by his boyfriend for the past year. Everything changes, however, when he meets Dave Strider. (Sorry I suck at summaries)
1. Chapter 1

**Mild TW for suggestions of rape, and some abuse.**

**Neither Homestuck nor any of it's characters belong to me. All rights go to Andrew Hussie. **

John's P.O.V

John hurried up the stairs to his apartment, his breath coming in small, quick puffs. As he ran his foot caught the edge of one of the steps and he came crashing down, twisting his wrist in the process. He cried out but swiftly pulled himself to his feet, ignoring the pain- he'd been through worse -and hurrying up the steps as fast as possible without falling again. When he finally made it to the door his hands were shaking, and he was unable to force the key into the slot. Tears welled up in his eyes and spilled over; he leaned his forehead against the door, slamming his fist against it as though it were the source of all of his problems. "Please, please, not-" He was cut off as the door was whipped open, and he was roughly pulled inside. The force of the pull sent him sprawling across the floor, and his glasses flew off and skittered away under the table, as if they knew what was coming and sought to hide from it.

He felt a hand grab his arm and wrench him upward, prompting a whimper to escape his lips. "You're late! Fifteen fucking minutes late! What the fuck have I told you about pulling this shit?! What, were you out whoring yourself off to other guys?!" Andrew screamed, letting go of his arm and allowing him to fall to the floor in a heap. "No! You know I wouldn't do that! Andrew, Andy, I'm sorry, I l-lost track of time at the library, it was an accident! It won't happen again, I promise!" He whimpered, trying to hold back tears. If he started crying now, Andrew would just get angrier and do something worse than he already had planned. "You know what, you're right. It's not gonna happen again, and I'm gonna make sure of that."

John's eyes widened and he turned in a desperate, weak attempt to scramble away. He didn't make it very far before Andrew grabbed him and picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder and making a bee line for their room. "Andy please, please don't do this! I'll do anything but that, _please_!" John screamed, pounding his fists on Andrew's back, his feet flailing in the air. The door opened and he was thrown carelessly onto the bed. He crawled away, pressing his back against the wall, trying to get as much room as possible between himself and Andrew. He knew it was useless; there was only one way to get out, and he knew what it entailed. Thankfully, before anything truly horrible could happen, everything fell to darkness.

* * *

When John awoke it was dark outside. He rolled over onto his stomach and let out a hiss of pain. His entire body hurt, but there was one area in particular that was throbbing the worst. He rolled over again and forced himself into a sitting position despite the pain. He could hear the TV playing in the next room, which meant Andrew must be out there, waiting for him to get up. He wondered how long he'd been out- it must have been hours, because the sun was still high in the sky when he'd arrived home. The thought of Andrew, and coming home brought a flood of memories back. He couldn't remember the worst of what had happened, but he could remember being hit at least a dozen times, and being called 'worthless,' 'useless' and, 'a stupid slut.' He shook his head to clear away the thoughts and inched towards the edge of the bed. He slowly stood up, wincing at the pain, and pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

He opened the door a crack and peeked into the hallway; no sign of Andrew, the coast was clear. He hobbled to the bathroom and quietly shut the door before flicking on the light. He looked at himself in the mirror, having to squint to see himself clearly. What he saw was nothing new; he had a large bruise on his cheek, his lip was split, and he had a black eye forming. He didn't even bother checking the other parts of his body- they'd be in the same shape. He shut off the light and left the bedroom, creeping down the hall until he came to the entrance connecting the hall to the livingroom/kitchen area.

Andrew was sitting on he couch, as he'd thought, staring at the TV. John took a hesitant step forward, then another, "A-Andy...? I'm...I'm awake." He said, backing up a step when Andrew turned to look at him. "Oh, hey babe. C'mere and sit down, I'm just watching Law and Order." John let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding and took his place next to Andrew, who wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. "I'm sorry. You know I only do it because I love you." Andrew whispered, turning to John and giving him a light peck on the forehead. John nodded and smiled tentatively, "I know. It's okay. I love you, too." He whispered back, reaching up and taking Andrew's hand in his own. Everything was fine now, and everything would _stay _fine if he could just stop acting so stupid and messing things up. He let out a small contented sigh and nestled in closer to Andrew, turning his attention towards the TV.

* * *

John hugged Andrew goodbye and watched his form retreat down the steps. He returned to the apartment and settled onto the couch, pulling out his phone and opening his Youtube app. He typed 'stridersgonnastride' into the search bar and waited, a smile growing on his face. He'd heard about this guy, Dave Strider, a few months ago when he was talking to his friend Jade on Pesterchum- when he was still allowed to use Pesterchum. There were several new videos up, although that wasn't surprising considering he hadn't been allowed to use his phone for the past two weeks. He hadn't been allowed to leave the apartment, either, until his bruises were gone, and he still had a black eye. He shook his head and clicked on the first video, which was simply titled, "Burger King."

It was mostly Dave ranting incoherently- he was probably drunk, it wasn't uncommon in his videos -and a girl making fun of him in the background. The video ended with him trying to stand up and instead knocking the camera over. John laughed and searched through the other videos, looking for another good one.

That was how he spent the majority of his day, until Andrew called him and told him to put on something nice, because they were going out. Without saying goodbye he hung up, leaving John to stare at the phone in confusion. They rarely went out to eat, especially after things like what had happened a couple of weeks ago. He sighed and stood up, abandoning his phone on the couch. He didn't know what the occasion was- it wasn't a birthday or anniversary, he knew that for sure -but it was sort of exciting. Something good _must _have happened, that was the only explanation. He went to the bedroom to pick out some clothes, a new spring in his step.

The ride to the restaurant was quiet, filled only by the sound of the radio. John had thrown on his favorite dress shirt- a bright green button up -and some black dress pants. He'd tried asking where they were going, and why, but Andrew had simply shaken his head and smiled. When they finally pulled up to the restaurant John saw that it was one of his favorites, _D'ajuoa_. They weren't able to come here often because it was expensive, and about an hour and a half away.

John grinned and leaned across his seat to wrap his ams around Andrew in a tight hug. "_Now _will you tell me why we're here?" He asked, leaning back. Once again he received only a head shake, to his dismay. Andrew climbed out of the car and walked around to open John's door, much to his surprise. He took his hand and together they walked into the restaurant. As they waited to be seated he found himself wondering what was going on. Andrew was rarely _this _nice, unless he'd been out partying and drinking with his friends- he was a surprisingly pleasant drunk. John was pulled from his thoughts by a tug on his hand, and looked up to see that the waitress had arrived to guide them to their table.

They were seated in a booth off to the side, and the waitress introduced herself as Samantha before leaving them to decide on their orders. "I'm going to use the bathroom before I order. I'll be back in a few minutes." He said, pushing up from the table and hurrying to the bathroom. As he walked his thoughts returned to why they had come here, and still he could come up with nothing. He entered the bathroom and found it empty, to his relief. He'd noticed people giving him weird looks all night, and knew it was because of his black eye. He was just glad that nobody had gotten curious enough to ask him about it, because he was a horrible liar, and he knew the cost of giving them the wrong answer. He finished relieving himself and quickly washed his hands in the sink, taking a few moments afterwards to examine his eye.

As he was doing so, the door opened, announcing the someone's arrival, and causing him to jump. He turned, thinking that maybe he'd taken too long and Andrew had come in to get him, but it was just some blonde guy in a dark red suit and aviators, who took a spot at the sink next to him. John turned away, then did a double-take, his eyes widening. It couldn't be...could it? He knew they lived in roughly the same area, but he'd never thought they might meet in person. The guy noticed him staring and turned, one eyebrow rising above his large sunglasses. "What? Do we know each other or something? Or do I have something on my suit?" The guy asked, looking down and brushing himself off. John opened his mouth, then shut it and shook his head. "Uh, no, I just...uh, are you...are you Dave? Dave, Strider?" He asked, feeling his face light up. He suddenly felt very self-concious and reached down to tug nervously at his shirt. The guy smirked and nodded- well, he sort of just jerked his chin upward -and said, "Yeah, that's me. Seen my videos, I'm guessing? Or heard me DJ?" John nodded, and smile growing on his face, "Yeah, I've seen your videos. You're hilarious! Especially the B-" He stopped talking and whipped around when he heard someone calling his name in a not-so-happy tone. Andrew was standing in the doorway, arms crossed, glaring at them. "Uh, sorry, Andy we were just, uh..." His voice faltered at the look he received and he quickly walked to Andrew's side without looking back at Dave.

* * *

Dave's P.O.V.

Dave watched as the kid was shoved out of the bathroom by some tall beefy guy with dark hair. The guy had looked pretty pissed off, and Dave found himself feeling mildly concerned- which was rare, because he usually didn't give two shits about random strangers. Maybe it was because the kid already had a black eye. Maybe it was the way he'd looked when he heard his name, like death had shown up to steal him away. Or, maybe it could be the way the kid had looked at him, with the crooked smile and his teeth sticking out, and his eyes lit up with excitement. Dave shook his head and adjusted his aviators- the kid couldn't be any older than nineteen, which would make him at least six years younger than Dave. Although, the big guy- his boyfriend, by the looks of it -had to be at least as old as Dave himself, probably older.

He shook his head and sighed, exiting the bathroom and hoping that Rose wouldn't make him stay too much longer. Right now all he wanted to do was get wasted and forget everything, not meet his little sisters' "absolutely spectacular, in a deliciously dark way" new girlfriend, Kanaya something-or-other. She was some uppity rich girl that Rose had met in a knitting shop, and the complete opposite of the girls she usually went out with. She was tall and very thin, with really pale skin and black hair and dark green eyes. She had a foreign, mysterious feel about her. In looks, she and Rose were complete opposites- Rose was short and a little chubby, with short blonde hair and pale hazel eyes -but personality-wise, they came close to being the same person.

He made his way back to their table and sat down across from Rose and Kanaya, who were whispering to each other and laughing, their hands intertwined on top of the table. He cleared his throat after being subjected to their little flirting game for a few minutes. Rose simply waved at him dismissively without turning her attention away from Kanaya. He let out an annoyed huff and slumped over in his chair, allowing his eyes to wander around the other tables. At least with his shades on he could stare at people without them noticing. His eyes soon found the kid from the bathroom, and he let them stay there.

The guy that had pulled him out of the bathroom was leaning across the table, whispering something. Unlike Rose and Kanaya's whispering, though, the guy's eyes were dark, and his lips were pulled down into a scowl. The kid was staring down at the table, his hands folded in his lap. Suddenly his head jerked up, and he shook his head so hard Dave thought his glasses were going to fly off of his face. He saw the kids hand reach out under the table for his boyfriend's. The boyfriend took his hand, but instead of smiling, the kid let out a cry of pain, loud enough for Dave to hear from his table, which he quickly covered with nervous laughter. Several people turned to look at them, even Rose and Kanaya, but nobody actually did anything about it, or bothered to ask if anything was wrong. Dave ground his teeth together, and beneath the table his hands clenched into fists. Nothing pissed him off more than abusive boyfriends- or girlfriends in some cases -and he wished he could get up and hit that dickhead right in the face.

Kanaya tsk'ed and shook her head, "Poor boy. It's a shame, the type of things people will object themselves to when they're in 'love,'" She murmured, putting air quotes around the word love. Rose simply scoffed and rolled her eyes, "He's an idiot if he thinks that's love." She said, earning a glare from Dave. He knew she couldn't see him doing it, but he hoped she could feel it. He looked up again to see the kid leaving the table and hurrying up to the bathroom. Dave stood up quickly, almost knocking his chair over, and followed him.

When he walked in the kid was bent over the sink, one hand clenching the edge, the other hanging limply at his side. He was shaking, obviously trying not to cry, and he didn't even look up when Dave walked in.

"Yo, kid, you okay?" He asked quietly, trying not to startle him. His attempt failed, because the kid jumped and his head jerked up. He reminded Dave of a trapped animal; his eyes were wide, and he took a few small steps back. His shaking became worse, and he suddenly burst into tears and collapsed onto the floor, sobbing and holding his head in his hands. Dave stood and stared for a moment, unsure as to what he should do, before walking to the kid's side and squatting down beside him. "Hey, kid, it's alright. Look, what's your name?" He asked. He started to reach out to try and give him a comforting pat, but decided against it. "J-John...my name's John Egbert. Why do you c-care?" John asked, glancing at Dave as he rubbed at his eyes. "Okay, John. Why the fuck are you with that asshole out there, if he's hurting you? Obviously if he cared about you he wouldn't give you a fucking black eye, and whatever else he's probably done." He demanded, glaring at John through his shades. It was a bit blunt- really blunt, actually -but he wasn't in the mood to play games and beat around the bush. John lifted his head and stared at Dave for a moment before lunging forward and shoving him onto the floor.

"You don't understand! You could never understand, so don't go around saying shit that you know nothing about!" He yelled as he pulled himself up by the counter. He winced and looked down at his hand, which was slightly bruised, and very swollen. It seemed to bring him back to reality, and he looked down at Dave in shock, his mouth falling open. "Oh god, I'm so sorry, so, so sorry. I, I didn't mean it, I don't know what happened, I just...just..." John stumbled on his words and started crying again, much to Dave's dismay. He sighed and pushed his glasses, which had fallen down a bit, further up on his nose and leaned towards John. He reached out and John flinched back, so he retracted his hand. "Look, it's fine. Just don't cry, okay? I can't handle crying people. Sorry I said it like that, but it's true. Just...here, call me if you ever get into something bad, 'kay?" He murmured, scribbling his number onto a scrap of paper he'd found in his wallet. He always carried a pen and some paper with him, if a fan saw him. He slipped the paper into John's hand and stood up, straightening his clothes. John looked at the paper, then up at Dave, then back to the paper. "Seeya, kid." He muttered before leaving the bathroom. He shook his head and headed for the exit. He didn't give a shit if Rose got all pissed, he didn't give a shit if he was supposed to pay for dinner tonight or that he was their ride home, he didn't give a shit about anything but going out and getting wasted, then maybe hooking up with some random girl- or guy, it didn't matter to him.

As he climbed into his car he thought about John. About how he obviously needed- and wanted, whether he knew it or not -help, and how he would probably never call for help. He smirked and chuckled darkly. In a way- a really, really shitty way -the whole thing was kind of ironic.

**And so ends the first chapter of my first ever fanfic. Sorry if I missed any spelling errors, I don't have a spellcheck or anyone to proof read for me. I hope you guys enjoyed it, please leave a review! Thanks for reading! ^_^**


	2. Chapter 2

John's P.O.V.

John watched Andrew leave and shut the door to the apartment, trudging back to their bedroom. Last night had been rough, to say the least, and he found that all he wanted to do was talk to Dave. It had been a little over a month ago when he'd met Dave in that restaurant, and it had taken him a week and a half to actually try calling him. He hadn't called because anything bad had happened, he'd just been staring at that number for days, wondering if it was really his, or if Dave, also known as 'The King of Irony' by his followers, had given him a fake as some big ironic joke. When Dave had actually picked up the phone John had been so surprised he'd actually hung up. It took him a couple of hours to call back, but eventually he'd managed to do it, and Dave had actually sounded kind of happy to hear from him. At least, John thought he sounded happy- he hadn't had an actual conversation with someone other than Andrew for a while -but he wasn't completely positive.

John dialed Dave's number and waited. The phone rang for a while before Dave finally answered, sounding groggy and hungover. "Yo, kid, what's up? Whatcha need?" He asked, pausing between the two questions to let out a loud yawn. "Hey, Dave! Did I wake you up? Sorry, I forgot it's only eight, Andy switched shifts and makes me get up to-" He stopped in the middle of his ramble when he heard a female voice in the background, telling Dave to be quieter. Dave mumbled something along the lines of, "Get out or shut up, I'm on the phone with someone." John's smile faded and he let out a small, nervous laugh. "Oh, you have company? Probably from the bar last night, right? Just call me back after she leaves. Not after four-thirty though, you know how Andy is...I'll talk to you later, Dave!" He rattled, hanging up the phone before Dave could protest.

John placed his phone on the bedside table and rolled over onto his stomach. He frowned and curled up, pulling the blankets over his head. He didn't know why it bothered him so much when Dave brought people home from the bar- if bringing people home made Dave happy, shouldn't he want that? His friend's happiness? He tried to tell that to himself all the time, but it never seemed to work. He didn't know what was wrong, but he wished it would stop. He buried his face into his pillow and let out a frustrated moan. He shut his eyes and willed himself to fall asleep, hoping that when he woke up there would be a voicemail from Dave. If not, he at least hoped this stupid feeling would go away. He let out a sigh and slowly slipped into darkness.

* * *

John opened his eyes and blinked a few times, waiting for them to adjust to the darkness. He wondered what time it was, and reached for his phone, groping along the table to find it. Apparently it was only twelve-thirty, so why was it so dark? He tried to push himself into a sitting position, only then realising that there was something warm and heavy draped across his back. He turned slowly and saw a lump next to him, the bankets rising and falling above it. He reached out and yanked back the covers, scrambling back when the person underneath wasn't Andrew. He almost started panicking until he realised he knew this person. It was...Dave? Yes, he recognized that blonde hair, and that face, although it looked significally different without the aviators.

But...why was Dave in his house? His bed? And, on a more embarrassing note, was he naked? John was sure Dave didn't know where he lived, and he'd definetly locked the door this morning, so what was going on? He reached out and hesitantly shook Dave's shoulder until his eyes fluttered open. "Hmm...? John, what do you want? It's too early..." He mumbled, burying his face into the pillow. "Uh, Dave, why are you in my bed? And, are you naked? If Andrew gets home and sees you, he'll-" Dave's eyes shot open and he sat up, looking concerned. "Andrew? What about that ass-hat? I took care of that, I've told you a million times. Did you have a nightmare?" He asked, reaching out and rubbing John's arm. John stared at him for a moment, confused, "Nightmare? I...I guess? I mean, I thought...it seemed really..." He trailed off, looking around.

He realised that he wasn't in his apartment anymore. The room was smaller, and the walls were red, instead of white. The windows had been covered with thick blankets, which explained why it was so dark. Clothes were strewn all over the floor, some of which looked like they might be his own. He assumed that the others were Dave's.

He turned from his inspection when he felt someone- Dave's hand touching him. He'd moved considerably closer in the time that John had been spacing out, and now he was leaning over even more. "Hey...you alright? You look pretty freaked." He murmured, his eyes searching John's face. "Yeah, I just- I can't- the last thing I remember is falling alseep after calling you. I'm really confused." He mumbled, running his fingers through his hair.

John turned to Dave to ask him something, when the gap between them closed, and he felt Dave's lips pressing against his own. He sat, unmoving, and stared at Dave in shock. When he realised John wasn't reciprocating he pulled back, looking confused. "John? Okay, seriously what the fuck did you dream about, 'cause you're acting really weird." The hand on John's arm tightened a bit, and he felt himself shrink back. He didn't mean to, it was just an automatic reaction. Dave's hand tightened further and he gave John a rough shove with his free hand. "John? John! What the fuck?!" He said. But it wasn't Dave's voice anymore, it was Andrew's. He was leaning closer, but his voice was getting fainter. His appearance began to change, his hair growing shorter and turning brown, his eyes becoming dark and stormy.

That was when everything disappeared, and he woke up.

* * *

He opened his eyes and shot up, panting. In the other room he heard the answering machine go off, and Andrew's voice, the voice he'd heard coming from Dave in his dream. He sounded furious, and John jumped out of bed, almost tripping up in the sheets but somehow managing to make it to the phone before Andrew hung up. Somewhere in the back of his mind, behind a haze of fear and nervousness, he wondered what time it was, and whether Dave had called him back or not.

He started to stammer out a 'Hello,' but Andrew had begun ranting as soon as he realised the phone had been answered. "Why the hell didn't you answer the first time I called? Is someone there with you? You fucking whore, I swear-" He stopped abruptly and John could hear him taking a deep breath. Despite the fact that he was pissed, he was staying quiet, which meant he must be around others. "Andrew, nobody's here with me! I fell back asleep after you left and didn't wake up until I heard your second message. I'm sorry, please don't be mad." He whimpered. There was nothing but silence on the other end of the line before Andrew replied, "We'll see." There was a faint click, then silence. John set the phone back in its holder and went back into the bedroom to retrieve his own. It was two-eighteen, and he had two new messages from Dave. The first one informed him that Dave's 'guest' had left, and he didn't even bother listening to the second one, although it was more recent.

He went out into the livingroom and sat down on the couch. After a few minutes of blankly staring at his phone he dialed Dave's number and lifted the phone to his ear; he could already feel the tears welling up.

* * *

Dave's P.O.V.

Dave stared down at his phone, debating whether he should call John back, or wait until what's-her-face left. He looked over at the chick next to him, who had passed out after he'd told her to shut up. He couldn't remember her name anymore- something with a 'C,' that was all he knew. It didn't really matter anyway, he was never going to see her again after today. His eyes wandered back down to his phone and he thought about John. His cute, dorky, funny little John. Granted, he'd only known John for a little under three weeks, and technically John wasn't his- not yet, anyway. Someday he'd manage to get the kid to leave his shitty, abusive asshole boyfriend, and _then_ John would be his.

If he wanted to, of course. Just getting John away from his boyfriend would satisfy Dave.

He let out a yawn and ran his fingers through his hair, standing up and pulling his shades on. His head was already starting to pound, but he thought getting hammered would probably take care of it. He left the room and lazily meandered his way down the hall to the kitchen to get something to eat. When he arrived he saw none other than Rose, sitting at his table, reading. Lovely. "Oh, how nice of you to call before dropping by. Hell, you even let yourself in." He said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. He reached into one of the cupboards and pulled out a box of Cheez-its.

"Yes, well I thought I should check on you after your little drunken escapade last night. I'm sure you have no recollection of that, of course. I see you didn't bother yourself with the simple task of getting dressed. Can't say I'm surprised." She said, still staring down at her book. "My house, I can do whatever the fuck I want. How long have you been here?" He asked, shoving some Cheez-its into his mouth and turning to the refridgerator for something to drink. "Not too long. I was on my way to Kanaya's and I thought I'd stop by before I went there. We're going shopping in Veridian and we wanted to get a head start." She sighed, "It's nice to see you're actually doing productive for once." He could practically taste the sarcasm. "I _am _doing something productive. I'm an aspiring alchoholic, can't you tell?" He asked, waving around the bottle he'd gotten from the freezer. "Of course, please forgive my ignorance. Well, goodbye. Dirk will be by around five, and I might stop by on my way home." Rose called as she exited the house. Dave grunted in response and set down the bottle of vodka he was holding.

It was going to be a long fucking day in paradise.

* * *

It was a little after eleven-thirty when C-something had finally woken up and gone home, and he'd been left alone in his house to drink himself into a stupor. Before he'd really laid into the vodka he'd called John and left him a voicemail. It was sort of weird for the kid not to answer his phone- he almost always answered before the third ring, even if he had to jump through hoops to do it.

Dave flopped onto the couch, throwing his phone down nearby and flicking on the TV. There was nothing good on, so he flipped to Dora- completely for ironic purposes -and lifted the bottle to his lips, taking a large swig. As the day slowly progressed, he quickly finished off the bottle. He tossed it and draped his arm over his eyes, groaning and groping around for the remote. Dora was still on, and it was starting to piss him off. He gave up after searching for a few minutes and tried to tune it out.

For a while he layed on his couch and dozed, only getting up once to stumble to the bathroom and grab some chips from the kitchen. He set the chips down next to the couch and groped around for the phone, finding that it had managed to slide under the couch. John still hadn't called him, and it was nearing two o'clock. He entered the number and waited...and waited...and waited. "John. Egbert. What the fuck? Why are still...not answering your phone? I've called you like, a million times. Well, two, but close enough. I'm gonna keep talking until you fucking call me back." He said, his words coming out slurred. He sat in silence for a few seconds before he started belting out the theme song to Dora, which was still on- were they having a fucking marathon or something? "Okay, fine, obviously you're not gonna call me. You must be gone,'r sleeping, 'r some shit so just...call me back. I love you. Wait, I mean...ah, fuck it, I love you, Egbert. Fucking call me back, 'kay? Bye."

When John finally called Dave back, he was pleasantly surprised. About fifteen minutes after he'd left the second voicemail, he realised that he was probably going to drive John away forever. He briefly entertainted the idea of calling and leaving _another _message, but opted to sit on the couch and mope instead.

When he answered the phone he was met with the sound of John crying and babbling hysterically. "Dave? I- Andy's mad at me again. I fell alseep, and I didn't hear the phone- he thought I was here with someone else! He always thinks I'm cheating on him, why does he always think that? I would never do something like that!" John was practically screaming into the phone, and mixed with the fact that he was crying, Dave could barely understand a word he said. "John, just calm down, okay? I mean, look, he's got an hour and a half until he get's off work, I'm sure he'll have gotten over it by then. So just calm down and please, stop crying." Dave said, lightly massaging his temples. He sort of wished he hadn't emptied the last botle of booze he had, because he could really use some right now.

It took a while, but he finally managed to get John from crying to sniffling, and they moved on from the subject of Andrew. They hadn't spoken for a couple of days, so Dave sat and listened while John filled him in on everything that had happened. "Last night we went to see that new James Bond movie!" He chirped, "Then we went to the bar. We didn't stay very long though, Andy said some guy was hitting on me, and he got mad. After we got home...we went to bed." He finished, obviously lying. Dave sighed but didn't say anything; John was a horrible liar, but he would just keep denying that anything had happened, as usual.

They continued to talk for a while, mostly about this and that, and John poked at him- several times -for being drunk before six. Four-thirty grew closer and closer, and finally John said that he had to go, before Andrew got home. Dave grimaced, but agreed that it was probably for the best. Just before he hung up, he asked, "Did you...get both of my voicemails?" John paused, then answered, "Yeah, but I didn't listen to the second one. Why, was there something important?" Dave leaned back into the couch cushions and laughed, relieved. "Nah, just delete 'em. It's just me being stupid. Anyway, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Seeya, kid." He hung up and set his phone down next to him.

"Jesus, thank god." He mumbled

* * *

John's P.O.V.

John rubbed his eyes and deleted the two messages from Dave. He briefly wondered why Dave had sounded so eager for them to be gone, but shrugged it off. If Dave said they weren't important, then that was that. Besides, he need to get the house ready before Andrew got home. He'd already managed to mess up once today, he didn't want to do it again.

* * *

**Thank you, _NimNimAwesome_ and _Maya Koppori_ for the sweet reviews! I was so happy I decided to update, despite the fact that I planned to wait for a few days. This chapter's a little bit shorter than the first one, so, sorry! I might put up chapter three soon if I can manage to get chapter four done in the next day or two. Thanks again for reading, and please leave a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry I'm uploading this one so late, the site was being weird and wouldn't let me upload it, but it's here now!**

**Special thanks to PhantomNOMNOM, NimNimAwesome, tripwork, homestuckvictor, FrollickingKnighticorn, YourNewCapitol, and Dougibot for the reviews! I finished chapter four, so, as promised, here's three!**

* * *

Dave's P.O.V.

Dave yawned and leaned back in his chair, allowing his eyes to droop shut. He'd woken up at eight-thirty this morning so he could get ready for his meet-up with John. It had been three days since he'd left that stupid voicemail, but to his knowledge John hadn't heard it.

John had called him last night around seven- Andrew had been out at the bar or something -and asked him if he wanted to meet at the library today. Dave had agreed enthusiastically, and cracked open a few beers to celebrate.

It hadn't been the best decision of his life.

When he woke up to get ready he had the worst headache of his life, and nothing to soothe it. Of course, he would rather suffer through a hangover for a few hours than miss hanging out with John. So, he'd thrown on some clean clothes and his shades and headed for the library.

It was another two hours before John showed up, looking flustered and nervous. Dave had been dozing quietly; the pounding in his head had decreased, but only by a bit. When John showed up he straightened his shades and sat up, a smile appearing on his face- well, a smirk, he didn't smile. "Hey kid, what's up? What took you so long?" He asked, glancing up at the clock. It was eleven-thirty, two hours past the time they'd agreed to meet. John sat down- wincing as he did so -and laughed nervously, rubbing one of his arms. "Uh, I'm okay. Me and Andy sorta got into an argument before I left, so it took a while to convince him to let me go. But I managed to get a couple of extra hours out of him, so I can hang out until five." He smiled and let out another nervous little laugh.

Dave nodded and pushed his shades up, leaning forward to examine John more closely. Other than the small wince he'd seen earlier there wasn't anything wrong with him- nothing obvious, anyway. Dave decided to let it go. For now, at least. "I see, I see. So, how ya been?" He asked, tipping his chair back again. John shrugged and looked down at his hands, "I've been good, I guess." He murmured. "I mean, Andrew's been acting kinda weird lately. He get's mad about stuff he never really cared about before, and...well that's all, really. I'm probably just being paranoid, huh?" He laughed, "And you don't wanna hear about my stupid problems. How've you been?"

"Eh, y'know, I've been about as good as I get. Work, sleep, drink. Same old thing." Dave said though a yawn, "Hey, John, do you mind if we go somewhere else? I mean, the library's not exactly the most exciting place in town." John paused, seeming surprised, before his face slowly started turning red. He ducked his head and chuckled. "Uh, yeah, of course. I don't even know what I was thinking. Sorry." He said, standing up and grabbing Dave's hand. "I know somewhere we can go that's really great! You brought your car, right? It'll take longer if we have to use the bus, although we have plenty of time, so it's okay if you didn't." He rattled excitedly.

Dave looked down at his hand, which John was still holding onto. "Nah, I brought my car, I can drive us." He said distractedly, still staring down at their hands. His heart did a little flip-flop- how uncool -and he smirked. "Where are we going?" He asked. John laughed and shook his head, "It's a surprise! I promise it'll be totally cool, though."

* * *

The zoo. John had taken him to the zoo.

He couldn't exactly say he was surprised, and he definetly wasn't mad or anything. If there was any chance of him getting mad, it disappeared as soon as he saw the look on John's face when they arrived. He looked so happy and excited that Dave couldn't help but smile a little.

Now he was being dragged around the zoo while John looked at the animals and cooed over how cute they all were. They stopped in front of the penguin exhibit and John leaned out over the railing, a big smile on his face. "Dave, look! That one looks like you!" He laughed, pointing to one that was standing off to the side by itself. "Hell yeah, look at that cool dude. To cool for all those other dorky lookin' penguins. Just sittin' back, chillin'." He said, leaning out over the rail next to John, "Speaking of dorks, _that _one looks like you." He smirked and gestured towards one that was trying to waddle it's way to the water, but kept falling down.

John stuck out his tongue and gave him a light shove, "Dave! It does not!" He whined. Dave held up his hands in surrender and they moved on to the next exhibit, which held wolves.

They spent the next hour wandering around and looking at the animals until a loud clap of thunder sounded overhead. Dave looked up at the sky, which had turned a dark grey. "Gonna start raining soon. Wanna go get something to eat?" He asked, turning his attention back to John, who nodded. They managed to get back to the car before it started raining, but almost as soon as they started driving it began to pour.

"Shit's really coming down." Dave murmured. He glanced over at John, who was staring out the window, watching the rain. "Wanna just grab something from Burger King?" He asked. John burst out laughing almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, and Dave looked at him in confusion. John opened his mouth to say something, but when he saw Dave's face he burst into a fresh round of laughter and went with a simple nod.

They pulled into the parking lot and Dave yanked his hood up, John quickly following his example. They ran inside, John giggling the whole way, still unable to explain what was so hilarious. John found a table for them to sit at, and Dave went up to the counter to order for them. He got four burgers, and two boxes of chicken nuggets. When he brought the food to the table John looked surprised. "Jeez Dave, I can't eat all that! I can't even eat half of that!" He exclaimed, taking one of the burgers.

Dave shrugged and took one for himself, "Eh, it's cool, I can eat them. Or I'll take it home and Dirk can eat them, 'cause I'm sure he'll be there." He said, rolling his eyes. "Dirk? 'ose that?" John asked around a mouthful of food. "It's just my older brother, him and his boyfriend are in a fight, or broken up or some shit. For some reason him and Rose think it's cool to stop by whenever they feel like it. He's practically living with me right now." Dave said, taking a bite out of his food. "Your brothers gay?" John asked, looking surprised. Dave smirked and leaned back in his seat, "Dirk's gay, Rose's gay, I'm cool with whatever. I'm sure our parents would be very proud."

John stared at him for a moment before looking down sheepishly. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to hit a sore spot of anything." He mumbled. Dave laughed and shook his head, "It's fine John, no big deal. Seriously, I don't care what my parents would've thought. I don't think Rose or Dirk do, either." He laughed again, and this time John joined in hesitantly.

They sat and talked for a while, eating slowly and enjoying themselves until John got a text. They'd been laughing over some prank John had tried to play on Dave when he'd left to go to the bathroom when his smile disappeared and he cleared his throat nervously. "Andrew wants me to come home. I guess we'd better leave." He murmured, pushing his food away. Dave frowned, but picked up the tray and threw everything away, saving one burger for Dirk. They walked out to the car and drove most of the way in silence.

The were still two blocks from John's apartment when he told Dave to stop. "I'll walk the rest of the way, he'll get mad if he sees you drop me off..." He mumbled, unbuckling his seat belt. Dave reached out and grabbed his sleeve before he opened the door. "John, it's pouring outside. You'll get sick or something, just let me drive you home. Tell him you saw one of your friends and they gave you a ride or something." Dave said, putting the car in park. John muttered something that he didn't catch, and he asked him to repeat himself. "I said, I don't...really have any friends. Just you. I mean, I used to, but we...grew apart, I guess." He said quietly, rubbing his arm. Dave sighed and leaned his forehead against the steering wheel, grinding his teeth together. "You grew apart, or _he _made you stop talking to them? Jesus, I'm surprised he doesn't go through your phone records." He muttered. John was silent, staring down at his lap and frowning.

Dave sighed and sat up, leaning over towards John, who flinched back and squeezed his eyes shut. "John," He murmured, "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. Trust me, I will never, ever hurt you, in any way." John opened his eyes and looked at Dave, who leaned in closer. "Dave..." He breathed. Dave leaned in and pressed his lips against John's. He felt John tense up for a few seconds before he relaxed and brought one of his hands up to grip Dave's shirt.

Dave could feel his heart hammering in his chest, an felt a smile coming to his face. Then, just when he thought everything was perfect, he felt John's hands against his chest, pushing him back. There wasn't much force behind it, but Dave pulled back regardless. John seemed surprised that he had stopped, then horrified. "Oh god, Dave, I- we can't. Andrew, if he- oh god. I'm so sorry, Dave." He rambled, desperately trying to open his door. He finally managed to get it open and stumbled out of the car, running away and disappearing into the rain. Dave stared at the spot where he had been, shocked. After a minute he realised he was getting soaked and shut the door, settling back into his seat.

"Fuck." He groaned.

* * *

John's P.O.V.

John ran through the rain, a million thoughts rushing through his head.

Dave had kissed him. He liked it. He'd kissed Dave back.

Did that count as cheating? Did that mean that Dave liked him? And, since he'd kissed back, did that mean that he liked Dave?

He was so confused and he didn't have much more time to think about it, because there was his apartment building, waiting for him. Looming over him like a big, dark cloud. He opened the door and made his way to the stairs, starting to shiver. It would have been faster to take the elevator, and he could've changed sooner, but he wanted more time to think.

He wondered if he was going to have to tell Andrew about it. He wasn't a good liar, but if Andrew didn't ask him specifically, he thought he would be fine. Besides, what was the harm in not telling? It wasn't a big deal, just one kiss. As John thought about it, Dave's words floated back into his head. "'It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. Trust me, I will never, ever hurt you, in any way.'" John sighed and made his way up the last few steps. Their door was in view now. Soon he was going to have to go inside and smile and pretend like he didn't have all of this on his mind. He stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath before opening it, a big- fake -smile growing on his face. "Andy, I'm home! Sorry I took so long, it's really coming down out there! I got soaked..." He called, his voice faltering as he peered around the livingroom and saw no one. The apartment was silent, and there was no sign of Andrew anywhere. "Andy? Are you home...?" He called, recieving no answer. He pulled off his shoes and took a step forward before pausing and taking off his shirt and pants too. Andrew would be mad if he tracked water into the house, regardless of the reason.

He made his way to their room, his teeth chattering. He pushed the door open and saw Andrew, lying on their bed, asleep. That explained why he hadn't answered when John had called out; he slept like a dead person. John sighed in relief and quickly changed his clothes, sneaking out before he woke Andrew up. He walked into the kitchen and opened the cupboard, pulling out a box of macaroni to make for when Andrew got up. As he opened the box he saw the answering machine blinking, and pressed play curiously. They didn't get many calls on the house phone, other than telemarketers.

"Hey, Andrew, it's Greg." John smiled; he'd talked to Greg once or twice, and the guy was pretty nice. "I just called to tell you that I saw John at Burger King a little while ago with some guy. I didn't know if you knew about it or something, but I just thought I should tell you. Well, I'll talk to you later, call me back." The message ended and John's blood ran cold. He pressed the delete button over and over in his panic.

What if Andrew had been awake when Greg had called? What would he have done when John got home? He shuddered at the thought and made his way to the couch, completely forgetting about making dinner for Andrew. He curled up in ball and stared at the blank TV screen. His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to break his ribs and fly out of his chest, and his stomach was churning like he was going to throw up.

The bedroom door creaked and he jumped, looking back to see Andrew emerging, yawning and scratching his head. He spotted John and came over to the couch, leaning over the back to place a kiss on the top of his head. "Hey. I fell asleep waiting for you to come home, it took you long enough. You alright? You look kinda sick." He stated, staring down at John with concern. "I'm sorry. I had to run home in the rain, it was really cold. I just feel kinda sick." He said, looking down at his feet. Technically what he'd said wasn't a lie- he did have to run home in the rain, and he did feel sick.

He felt Andrew's hand against his forehead, then heard him move away. He came back a few minutes later with a glass of water and some medicine. "Here, take this, I don't want you to get sick. I knew you shouldn't have gone out today. I told you." Andrew murmured, watching John as he took the medicine. "Yeah, you were right. I'm sorry." John said, smiling weakly. Andrew smiled back and petted his hair, "It's alright. I forgive you." He said, leaning down to peck John on the lips.

Andrew walked off into the kitchen, presumably to make himself something to eat, and John let out a quiet, shaky sigh. He couldn't hide it for much longer. Greg was bound to call sometime soon, whether it was later tonight, or in a few days made no difference. When Andrew found out, there was going to be hell to pay.

* * *

Dave's P.O.V.

When Dave arrived home he found Dirk lying on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. That was what he'd been doing for the past two days, only getting up occasionally to use the bathroom or eat.

Dave tossed the burger at him and received a grunt, which he assumed was supposed to be a 'thank you.' He made his way to his room, shedding his clothes as he went. He collapsed onto his bed and lay there, not bothering to shut the door, or pull the blankets around himself. He layed there for a while, moping in a puddle of self pity until he passed out.

* * *

He slept through the rest of that day, and well into the next until he felt someone nudging him awake. He slowly opened one eye and saw Rose staring down at him with an expression that could only be described as annoyed. "What? Why are you here?" He mumbled, shutting his eyes. "I've been calling for you for the last ten minutes. I was hoping to spare myself the trauma of seeing you without clothing yet again." She said, shaking her head. "I made lunch for you and Dirk, since you're both obviously unable to take care of yourselves at the moment. Please od me and the others the favor of putting some clothes before you come out." She left the room and shut the door behind her, leaving him in darkness.

"Others?" He muttered, sitting up. His stomach rumbled and he pulled himself off of the bed, grabbing the first clothes he could find. He put on his shades and headed into the kitchen, greeted by the smell of grilled cheese and the sight of Kanaya, Dirk, and Rose crowded around his small table. Dirk was grimacing and arguing with Rose about something while Kanaya sat back and ate her food, watching the two of them fire back and forth.

Dave squeezed into the spot which had obviously been intended for him and picked up his food, taking a large bite and tuning into Dirk and Rose's argument.

"Jake has called me three times, Dirk. It won't kill you to talk to him." Rose stated, glaring at Dirk. "I'm not calling him. I told him it was over, and it's not my fault if he can't handle that." Dirk mumbled, picking at his food. Rose pulled his plate away from him, ignoring his small noise of protest. "Obviously neither of you are able to 'handle' it, because you've been here for almost a week, wallowing in a puddle of self-pity, and Jake has been calling me, asking where you are and whining about how he misses you and doesn't know what he did wrong." She said, obviously tired of the entire argument.

They'd probably been arguing in circles since she'd gotten here. He knew it was no use; Dirk wasn't going to call Jake until he was ready, and that would probably going to take a while. He tuned them out and finished his food, then pulled out his phone. There were no messages from John, although there was one from Terezi asking if he wanted to go out with her and Karkat and Sollux later on. He ignored it and shoved his phone back into his pocket with a sigh.

When he looked up Rose was staring at him, frowning; apparently she had given up on Dirk, who was back to picking at his food. "Dirk said you seemed depressed when you got home yesterday. Trouble in paradise?" She asked. Kanaya had turned her attention to him too, as well as Dirk, and now everyone's eyes were on him. "Please tell me when I'm not depressed. And, if you must know, yeah, there was an issue last night." He said, looking down at the table. They all stared at him for a few minutes before Kanaya cleared her throat and said, "Please elaborate, if you don't mind." Dave sighed and told them everything that had happened yesterday. When he had finished talking they had several questions for him.

"John? Who's John?"

"Oh, you're seeing that boy from the restaurant? You two seem as though you would be cute together."

"You kissed him? And he has a boyfriend? Tsk, tsk, Dave."

Dave groaned and massaged his temple, answering their questions in order. "John Egbert, this kid I met at a restaurant like a month ago. We're not seeing each other, I like him and he's an oblivious dork. Well, he _was _oblivious. And yes, I kissed him, yes he has a boyfriend, oh how terrible of me. It's not like the guy treats him right anyways, hitting him and doing whatever the fuck else." By the time he'd finished talking he was practically yelling, something that was completely unlike him. He stood up from the table and walked back to his room, ignoring Rose, who was asking him to come back, and Kanaya, who was apologizing repeatedly.

The only thing that was going to help him now was hearing from John, and he sincerely doubted that that was going to happen anytime soon.

* * *

**Once again, thanks to everyone for reading, and I hope you guys liked it! All of your comments mean a lot to me, so thank you again! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Aaaaah this is going to be a long chapter. Or longer than the others, at least. Hope you guys like it!**

* * *

Dave's P.O.V.

Two weeks.

It was two weeks before Dave heard anything from John. During those two weeks he'd mostly stayed in his room, only venturing out to use the bathroom, eat, or get something to drink. Rose had come over a few times, making sure both he and Dirk showered and ate something other than Doritos or snack cakes. She'd also said something along the lines of, "Honestly, it's like someone died. You two can't even function without them."

When John called he was huddled under a pile of blankets, not sleeping, simply laying there with his eyes closed. He lazily groped around for his phone, assuming it was another call from Terezi, ar maybe Rose. When he checked the caller ID it felt like it was possibly the happiest moment of his life- until he answered the phone.

The moment he answered he was greeted by John talking quickly, his words blending together. The only thing Dave managed to understand was something about cheating and getting kicked or something. "John, slow down, I can't understand what you're saying. Take a breath, calm down, and tell me what's going on." He said, having to talk over John, who was still going on. The line went silent for a few minutes before he heard John take a deep breath. "A-Andy's friend saw us eating a couple weeks ago, and h-he called Andy and told him, and he got m-mad at me and...he did s-some stuff, and he kicked me out, Dave, I have nowhere t-to go." John stuttered. Even over the phone Dave could tell that he was about to start crying, if he wasn't already. His words were slightly distorted, and Dave took a moment to wonder what exactly Andrew had done. He took a deep breath, as everything sank in before he asked, "Where are you now? I'll come get you."

"I'm at the park. The one by the strip mall. Can you please hurry...? All of these people are giving me weird looks and..." John trailed off and Dave heard voices in the background- it sounded like someone was asking him if he was okay. "I'll be there in a few, okay? Just hold on." He said, hanging up and hoping John had heard him. He grabbed his jacket and headed out the door, ignoring Dirk's question of, "Where are you going?"

He hopped into his car and backed out of the driveway, barely taking the time to ensure that no one was driving by.

* * *

When he got to the park it didn't take him very long to find John. He had attracted the attention of a few women who looked like they'd been jogging, and they were now gathered around him, asking him if he was alright. Dave had to push his way through them to get to John, who was sitting on the bench with his head down and his hands folded in his lap.

Dave placed a hand on John's shoulder and he looked up, a small relieved smile coming to his face. Dave stared down at him in shock, unable to say anything; he had two black eyes and his lip was split. There was a bruise around his neck and the collar of his shirt was torn. The rest of his shirt had splotches of what looked like dried blood on it, staining the light blue material. He seemed to realise that Dave was examining him and ducked his head, twisting his hands in his lap. "Can we go now, please? I don't want to be here anymore." He whispered. Dave nodded and took his hand, turning and pulling him through the small group of women. Some of them protested and others tried to ask more questions, but Dave simply ignored them.

When they got into the car John refused to look at him and sat pressed against the door, fiddling with his shirt. Dave sighed and started the car, deciding that it would probably be better not to question him just yet.

As soon as they got to the house John shot out of the car and went to wait by the door. Dave followed after him and opened the it, allowing John to go inside first. He shut the door and turned around, fully prepared to bombard John with questions, when Dirk poked his head over the edge of the couch.

"Hey. Where did you go? I tried to ask and you earlier and you ignored me. And who's that? What happened to him?" He asked, staring at John, who looked down at his feet and took a few steps closer to Dave. "Jesus Dirk, shut the fuck up. This is John, the kid I told you about, and I went to pick him up. He's having some problems so he's gonna stay here for a while. Don't bother him." Dave said, taking John by the shoulder and steering him away into the small kitchen.

"Alright, time to talk." Dave said, staring at John expectantly. John glanced up at Dave, then back down at his feet. "I don't know what you want me to say. I told you everything on the phone." He mumbled, fidgeting nervously. Dave sighed in exhasperation and leaned against the counter. "John, don't lie to me. You're really fucking bad at it." He said. John glanced up at him again, this time with a resigned look on his face.

He took a deep breath before he began, "When I got home that day we went to the zoo, after everything happened, I saw a message on the answering machine. It was from one of Andrew's friends, and he said he saw us eating lunch together. I deleted it, and Andrew didn't say anything for a week or so, and I thought maybe he just wouldn't find out." John paused for a moment to take a deep breath before he continued, "Then, a few days ago his friend called him again and asked him about it, and he got really mad. He threw the phone and...grabbed me around the neck and slammed me against the wall. He h-hit me a couple of times, and then...he took me to our room..." John's voice faltered and his eyes filled with tears. "Dave, I don't want to talk about it anymore. Please don't make me." He whispered.

"It's fine, it's cool, we don't have to if you don't want to. Did you say it happened a couple of days ago? Where've you been staying? And why the hell didn't you call me when it happened?" Dave asked, staring at John, puzzled. "Uh, yeah it happened...three d-days ago, I think. I had a little money so I stayed in a motel the first n-night. I didn't have enough f-for another night, so I just wandered around and s-slept in a bus station. I was afraid to call you because I thought you woul be be m-mad after what happened in your c-car." John hiccuped, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. Dave sighed and shook his head. "John, I wasn't mad at you. It was my fault. I thought you hated me, you didn't answer any of my calls." He murmured, pushing himself away from the counter, "Wait here for a second." He went to his room and rifled through his clothes, looking for something clean that John could wear. He finally found something- a white shirt with red sleeves and a broken record on the front. It was old, and the were a few holes in it, but he thought it would be okay for now. He also- by some miracle -managed to find some clean shorts buried in one of his drawers.

He returned to the kitchen, where John was now standing awkwardly with Dirk. Dave handed John the clothes he'd gathered and gestured towards the bathroom before turning to glare at Dirk. "I thought I told you not to bother him. You probably said some weird shit and freaked him out, didn't you?" He growled as soon as he heard the bathroom door shut. "No. I was just asking him about himself. He looks like Jake. Dorky. Buck-teeth." Dirk muttered, pushing his way past Dave and returning to his place in the livingroom. John reappeared a few seconds later, now wearing Dave's clothes. The shirt was too big, and almost reached his knees, and he had to hold on to the shorts to keep them from falling down.

Dave held back his laughter and instead smirked down at John, who looked up at him and gave a little smile in return. "Didn't realise you were so much smaller than me. Sorry." Dave said, reaching out to ruffle John's hair. "It's okay. I'm happy to be out of those clothes. Uh, I'm kind of tired, do you mind if I go to bed?" John asked sheepishly, fiddling with his shirt again. Dave nodded and lead him down the hall to his room, which was in a sad state of disarray. He suddenly wished he wasn't so lazy, or that Rose would've cleaned when she'd come over.

"Sorry it's so messy. Probably would've cleaned if I knew you'd be coming over." He said, taking a moment to kick some clothes off to the side. John let out a breathy laugh and looked around. "It's fine. Actually, it's pretty much how I imagined it would be, except I thought it would be a little cleaner." He sat down on the edge of the bed and yawned, blinking sleepily. "I'll let you go to sleep. Seeya tomorrow, kid." Dave murmured, turning to leave. "Dave, can you...stay in here with me until I fall asleep? I don't want to be alone." John said, moving back and pulling the blankets over himself. Dave stood there for a minute before nodding and sitting on the edge of the bed next to John, who curled up on his side and looked up at Dave. "Thank you, Dave." He whispered. He looked like he was going to cry again, and Dave climbed under the blankets and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. "It's cool. Just don't cry again, okay? I can't handle crying, 'member?" He heard John laugh and allowed himself a small smile- a genuine one, not a sarcastic smirk.

They laid there like that for a while, and John soon fell asleep. Dave stayed awake for a while, enjoying the feeling of finally being able to hold John in his arms. This wasn't how he had wanted things to go, but he would take it. After a while he too fell asleep.

* * *

John's P.O.V.

When he awoke in the morning he was confused, to say the least. At first he thought he was at home with Andrew, before he realised that that was impossible. His next thought was that he'd been kidnapped while he was asleep at the bus station. It took him a few minutes to remember where he was, and what had gone on last night. He left out a sigh of relief and allowed himself to relax. He looked up at Dave, who had somehow managed to slip out of his shirt sometime during the night. His arms were still wrapped loosely around John, and he felt his heart speed up a little. He smiled and brought one of his hands up to rest on Dave's arm.

After all that had happened, Dave had remained by him; a constant friend. Even when John had ignored his advice, pushed him away, and ignored his calls after that day at the zoo, he still wanted to be around.

John found himself wishing that he would have met Dave a year ago, in college, before he'd met Andrew. He also wished that he could find it in his heart to hate Andrew, but all he felt was sadness, and a small amount of love. Even after all he'd done, John still couldn't hate him. He sighed sadly and burrowed his face into Dave's chest. Above him he heard Dave mutter something in his sleep, then moan softly. He looked up and Dave, who moaned again and let out a low chuckle.

John felt a blush creeping up his face as he imagined what Dave could be dreaming about, and he carefully wriggled out of his arms, doing his best not to wake him up. He paused for a moment to admire how happy Dave looked while he was sleeping before he quietly slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him. When he turned around he heard the sound of voices talking in the other room. It sounded like Dave's brother was talking to someone. Their voices were quiet, but it seemed like they were arguing about something.

He considered going back into Dave's room, but decided against it. He slowly crept down the hall and peeked into the kitchen. Dirk was leaned against the counter, frowning, and there was a tall guy with glasses and dark hair standing on the other side of the room.

"Jake, go home. I told you it's over and I don't want to talk to you. Don't make this harder than it needs to be." Dirk said, turning away to stare at the refridgerator.

The guy- presumably Jake -took a few steps closer and held out his arms. "Dirk, please don't be like that. I'm sorry for what I did, I really am. Please, just come home." Jake begged, moving closer again.

Dirk looked over at him and his frown lessened. "Jake...I can't. I can't do it anymore. I'm sorry."

John turned around to go back to Dave's room- he felt bad about eavesdropping, especially since he didn't really know either of them -and came face-to-face with Dave himself. He jumped and let out a startled squeak, and Dave smirked down at him. "Yo. What's goin' on in there?" He asked, gently moving John off to the side and poking his head into the kitchen. "Great, now fucking English knows where I live, too? Jesus, might as well invite some homeless guys to come over, start a fucking soup kitchen in my goddamn house." He muttered, turning around to look at John, who smiled up at him.

"C'mon, let's just go back to my room 'till they're done. It's probably gonna take a while." Dave said, taking John's hand and pulling him back to the other room. Dave flopped back onto his bed, facedown, and groaned, "I'm so fucking hungry." John giggled and sat down on the bed next to him, pulling his knees up to his chest. After a few seconds he winced and straightened them out again- it hurt to breath when they were like that. He looked over at Dave, who had turned his head in John's direction and was frowning. "So that's your brother's boyfriend? Er, ex-boyfriend." He corrected himself, looking down and tracing circles on the blankets.

"Yeah. According to Dirk he was acting like a huge dick or something, so he got tired of it." Dave paused for a moment, then said, "Are you alright? Do those hurt?" He reached out and gently brushed his fingers against John's neck. John shook his head and leaned away from Dave's hand with a frown. "No, it's not them. I'm fine, don't worry about it." He said, averting his eyes from Dave's face.

The bed creaked and he looked up to see that Dave had sat up and moved a bit closer. "John, you know that if you wanna talk about it, we can." He said, resting his hand on John's shoulder.

"Dave, I'm fine, really. I don't need to talk about it. Thank you, though."John smiled and reached up to grip Dave's hand, leaning forward and wrapping his free arm around Dave's neck. For a few moments he sat stiffly, then gently wrapped both of his arms around John's midsection and burrowed his face into John's neck. "Alright." He sighed and pulled away, adjusting his shades. He opened his mouth to say something when there was a muffled thump in the kitchen, followed by a loud clang.

"Shit. I'm gonna fucking kill those assholes." Dave mumbled, climbing off of the bed and leaving the room. After a moment of hesitation John followed him. Dave got to the kitchen before him, and he heard let out a pained groan. John peeked into the kitchen and saw Dirk sitting on the stove, one of his hands gripping Jake's shirt, the other tangled in his hair. Jake's face was red and his glasses had been knocked askew; one of his hands was resting on Dirk's upper thigh and he stared down at his feet in embarrassment. Dirk was rubbing the back of his head, and there was a pan lying on the floor.

"Dirk, _what the fuck? _Were you guys about to _fuck _on my goddamn _counter? _What is wrong with you? What do you think this is, _Wild Kingdom _on _Animal Planet?_" Dave exclaimed. John felt a blush creeping up his face and ducked his head. "How the fuck did this even happen? Earlier you were bitching and telling him to leave. Now you guys are practically fucking. On my _goddamn counter._"

Dirk let go of Jake and hopped off of the counter. "We fixed things. We're going home now, I probably won't be back over for a while." Dirk said, his voice devoid of any emotion. He pushed his way passed Dave and John, not waiting for Jake to catch up. "Uh, I'm really sorry, Dave. You know how he is, he sort of...jumped me, I suppose. I'm really sorry, truly." Jake said, patting Dave's shoulder as he went by. Together he and Dirk exited the house, leaving Dave and John alone.

* * *

John stood at the stove, humming quietly as he worked on dinner. Dave was sitting at the table, quietly watching him work.

When he'd offered to make dinner Dave had told him it was fine, and that he'd just have Rose come over and do it. John had insisted, partially because he didn't think he would be able to meet anymore of Dave's siblings at the moment, but mostly because he wanted to do something to thank Dave for helping him, even if it was somehing as small as spagetti.

He heard Dave's chair scrape against the linoleum and a second later he was leaned against the counter, picking up a spoon to poke at the sauce. John felt himself growing nervous- what if Dave didn't like it? What if Dave got mad and made him leave? Or, what if he did something worse? John shook his head to clear away the thoughts- Dave would never do that -and turned his attention to Dave, who was picking the mushrooms out of the sauce and eating them.

"Dave! You're going to ruin it! Does Rose let you eat the food before it's done when she cooks?" He asked, plucking the spoon out of his hand. Dave grumbled something and returned to his seat at the table.

Fifteen minutes later the food was ready, and he brought a plate to Dave, settling in the seat across from him. Instead of eating his food as John had expected, Dave stared at him, looking slightly confused. "Aren't you gonna eat too?" He asked, setting his fork down.

"Oh, I was going to wait until you were done, that's what I usually do...or, used to, I guess. Um, should I get some now?" John stood up and hovered in the space between the table and the stove, waiting for Dave to tell him what to do. After sitting in silence for a few moments, Dave said, "John, you can eat if you want. You don't have to wait for me to finish, or tell you it's okay. I don't own you." John paused and felt his face heat up; he hurried to the stove then returned to his seat across from Dave, who stared at him for a few seconds before digging into his food.

He ate slowly, picking at his food and glancing up at Dave every once in a while. They ate in silence, and when Dave was finished he went to the livingroom to watch TV. John decided to stay in the kitchen to finish his food and think. After a while he stopped eating and simply stared off into space, thinking about Dave, and Andrew, and what he was going to do. He couldn't live with Dave forever, as nice as that might be, and he didn't have any family to go to.

His father had died shortly after he started college; he'd been out on a date when they got mugged, and both he and his date were killed. He didn't know his mother, and his grandmother had died in an accident before he was born. Consequently, he was left with no family, and due to Andrew, the only person he had the chance to get close to was Dave, and even then they'd only known each other for a couple months.

He was pulled from his reverie by Dave waving his hand in his face. "Yo, I've been calling you for like, ten minutes. Jesus, I thought you died or something, you've been out here for like an hour and a half." Dave said, going to the fridge and pulling a bottle out of the freezer.

"Ah, sorry. I was just thinking about stuff." John murmured, standing up and taking his plate to the sink. "What are you watching?" He asked as he rinsed his plate. "I dunno, some shit on the Discovery Channel. Not gonna be watching it for long though. Not gonna be able to see straight in an hour." Dave said. John glanced over at him nervously, but said nothing. He'd seen Dave drunk before, but only in his videos, and he usually had someone there with him.

Of course, he was probably just worrying about nothing, as usual. Dave would probably just pass out on the couch or something, and leave John to his own devices.

He would get his answer in about an hour, anyway, according to Dave.

* * *

An hour came and went, and Dave's assumption about not being able to see right was correct. It wasn't much of a surprise after John learned that he was basically drinking straight vodka, something he apparently did pretty often. Dave had offered him a drink, but he'd declined- at first. Curiosity had gotten the better of him after Dave's third offer, and he'd tried some. He thought it tasted absolutely disgusting, and had almost thrown up. Dave had found it hilarious and had laughed for a good twenty minutes, stopped for five, then started again.

Dave had gotten up and returned with a glass of Sprite, then mixed a bit of the vodka in with it. It had taken a bit of convincing, but John had finally relented and tried it. He was surprised when it had tasted fine and decided to join Dave. It was his first time drinking, but he thought it would be fine- he was with Dave, so what was the worst that could happen?

Of course that had all been a few hours ago, and now he and Dave were stumbling their way down the hallway to his room. The TV was still blairing in the other room, but neither of them payed any attention. Dave only made it halfway to his bed before he tripped over some of his dirty clothes and fell, landing halfway on the bed and halfway off. John burst out laughing and collapsed on the bed next to Dave.

He crawled his way under the blankets, his laughter fading into giggles as he went. The bed creaked and a moment later Dave joined him. "Thanks a lot, Egbert, for helping me in my one time of need. I could've broken my back. Or suffocated in those blankets. And what did you do? Nothing. You left me to die, like we were in fucking Vietnam and under enemy fire. I'm in the trenches, calling for help, and you and the others just leave me to die in the mud." Dave said, shaking his head and feigning sadness.

John giggled again and leaned forward to give Dave a hug. To his dismay, Dave leaned away and shook his head. "Don't be like that! I'm sorry I left you to die in the mud. I'm sorry." He whined, taking Dave by the shoulders and lightly shaking him. Dave's scowl remained for another minute before he smiled and allowed John to hug him. They stayed like that for a few moments before he leaned back and stared at Dave. "Dave, you should know that you're my bestfriend. Actually, you're my only friend. But even if you weren't you'd still be the best one! I love you, Dave."

Before he could reigster what was happening Dave tackled him to the bed, smashing their lips together. His mind went blank and he layed there, not kissing back, but not pushing him away either. Memories of that day in the car surfaced and he felt his stomach turn; whether it was because he was nervous or because he was enjoying what was happening, he couldn't tell.

He felt Dave pull away; his aviators were still on, but John could tell he was hurt. He started to move back, like he was going to get off of the bed, and John grabbed his hand. "Dave...I'm not sure...how I feel about you, but I think...I think I..." He trailed off as he felt his stomach give another disgruntled heave. Dave stared at him, then down at their intertwined hands.

"John? You think you...?" He prompted.

"I think...I'm gonna throw up." He moaned, whipping around and emptying the contents of his stomach onto the floor. His head swam and he started to slide off of the bed. Dave yanked him back before he could fall into his own puke, for which he was grateful. "Jesus, John. You okay? Shit, you're never drinking again. Come on." Dave said, reaching down and pulling a dirty shirt off of the floor. He wiped John's mouth, then peered over the edge of the bed. "Ugh. I'm gonna have to clean that up in the morning. Fuck." He said, crawling back to his side of the bed.

John layed down on his side and peered at Dave through half-lidded eyes. "I'm really sorry...please don't be mad." He murmured, his eyes drifting shut. Before he fell asleep he heard Dave whisper, "It's fine. I could never be mad at you."

* * *

**Whew, that was a long one (-_-;) I was wondering if you guys think the story is moving too fast or anything...? I kinda feel like it is, but as long as you guys are happy with it, it doesn't matter.**

**I would also like to say that it might be a few days before chapter five is up, because; 1) I haven't finished it yet (Blugh) and, 2) I'm starting another fic (Adventure Time) so I'm going to be working on both of them. **


	5. Chapter 5

John's P.O.V.

When John awoke the next morning, he thought he was dying. His head was throbbing, as though someone was hitting him with a baseball bat over and over, and he thought he might puke. As he sat up his nose was greeted by something- he couldn't tell what it was, but it was definetly unpleasant. He slowly crawled to the edge of the bed, finding the source of the smell sitting on the carpet. Apparently one of them had thrown up last night, and neither had felt the need to clean it up. He climbed out of bed, being careful not to step in the puke, and made his way to the door.

As he went he struggled to remember what had happened last night. The most he could remember was Dave offering him a drink, the two of them watching some cartoon on TV and laughing hysterically, and Dave saying something about Vietnam. The rest was a confusing blur, and he breifly wondered if he and Dave had done anything- he knew how Dave felt about him. Well, he was pretty sure he knew how Dave felt about him. He quickly dismissed the idea though, seeing as he and Dave both had all of their clothes on, and nothing hurt.

He gave up on trying to figure out the rest as he stepped into the bathroom. He felt around on the wall for the light switch, squinting in the darkness, suddenly realising that his glasses had magically disappeared. The thought left his mind as soon as he flicked the light on and his headache increased tenfold. He whimpered pitifully, covering his eyes with his hands.

He stood in the doorway for a few minutes, waiting for the pain to subside a bit before he opened his eyes again. This caused another throb of pain, but not nearly as bad as the first. He stumbled over to the toilet and sank down onto the linoleum, resting his head against the lid. Judging by the way his stomach was feeling at the moment, he was probably the one who'd thrown up on Dave's carpet, and he would prefer not to do it again.

He stayed like that for what felt like hours- and probably was -praying that his headache would go away. He threw up several times, and slowly the feeling in his stomach went away. The pain in his head, however, stayed; a constant dull throbbing.

From the other room he heard Dave's door open, and footsteps came shuffling down the hall. He looked towards the door and watched as Dave went by, then came back a few seconds later. He stood in the doorway and stared at John for a while before coming in and offering his hand. John took it and Dave pulled him to his feet with a small grunt.

"Hey, kid. You good? Not gonna puke again?" Dave asked. John nodded, and together they went into the livingroom and sat down. "Dave...remind me to never drink again. Ever." He mumbled, stretching out as much as he could without laying on Dave, who laughed quietly and leaned his head against the back of the couch.

"That's probably a good idea. You're not even old enough to drink, I don't know what the hell I was thinking." He sighed, pushing his shades up to rub at his eyes. John grunted in agreement and allowed his eyes to drift shut. After throwing up for the past who knows how long, he felt himself growing tired again. Before he dropped off he felt Dave get up, and moments later a blanket was placed over him.

* * *

Dave's P.O.V.

The next few days passed quietly, with little to no excitement, and John had now been there for about a week and a half. John had spent that time cooking and cleaning around the house, and for once Dave was actually able to see the floor of his bedroom. He himself did what he was good at and worked on his music and made several new videos. He even managed to convince John to join him in one of them, and it was pretty funny to watch him sit there and try not to act awkward and flustered.

Dave had suggested that they go out to eat, or see a movie or something, but judging my John's expression, he thought it was better if they just stayed home for a while.

And now he was sitting at the table with Kanaya, watching Rose make dinner while John took a shower.

She'd shown up a short time after John had gotten in, so he wasn't aware that she was here. Dave hadn't exactly been thrilled to see her- in fact, he'd told her to leave and shut the door in her face. Of course, it wasn't really his fault. All he wanted to do right now was hangout with John, not share him with his sister.

And there was also the fact that John's first meeting with one of his siblings hadn't really gone all that well. But, being herself, Rose had simply unlocked the door and come tromping in, dragging Kanaya along with her. Surprise, surprise.

So, here they were. "I truly cannot believe how clean this place is. Honestly, the last time I was here it smelled like stale pizza and dirty laundry." She exclaimed. It was odd to see her this surprised, since the only emotion she seemed to show whenever she was here was boredom or exhaspersation.

"Yeah, John makes a pretty good housekeeper. He cooks, he cleans. I'm even thinking about proposing." He said. Rose rolled her eyes, but Kanaya giggled and Dave smirked, resisiting the urge to stick his tongue out at his sister. He knew it would just annoy her- she might even stop making dinner, and although John was a good cook, he thought the kid deserved a break.

Ten minutes of useless banter and plenty of eye-rolling later, John emerged from the bathroom, dressed in another one of Dave's shirt and a pair of his sweatpants. When he spotted Rose standing by the stove, and Kanaya sitting at the table he froze, seeming confused. "Yo, John, Rose and Kanaya decided to stop over and make dinner for us." Dave called, motioning for John to come and sit down.

For a few seconds he stood in the hallway, glancing nervously between Rose and Kanaya before he made his way into the kitchen and took a seat next to Dave.

"Hello John, it's very nice to meet you. I've heard a bit about you from Dave and Rose, though I'm not sure if you've heard of me. I'm Kanaya, Rose's girlfriend." Kanaya said, extending a hand to John, who took it with a small smile. Rose turned from the food for a moment and said, "It is indeed nice to finally meet you John, after listening to Dave go on and on about you. I'm sure he's spoken of me before, although it may not have been especially flattering." She looked at Dave for a moment, who glared back, before returning to the task of cooking.

"It's nice to meet you guys too. Dave said a little bit about you, but not very much." John said, his smile growing larger. Thay continued to chat until dinner was ready, though it was mostly Rose, John, and Kanaya, while Dave himself sat off to the side and observed. John seemed to be fine now, despite the fact that he'd looked like he was going to have a panic attack earlier.

He tuned back into the conversation and realized that they were talking about Andrew.

"Uh, we met in college. He was really nice, but after we'd been dating for a couple months he kind of...changed, I guess." John said, fidgeting in his seat. Dave ground his teeth together; he hated that guy, and he sure as hell didn't want to hear about him. Rose apparently did, however, as she seemed to be all ears.

He shook his head and stood up, snatching his plate off of the table. "I'm done eating." He snapped, seeing that Rose had opened her mouth to say something. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw John flinch- probably because of his tone -and felt a wave of regret hit him. He shook it off and dumped his plate in the sink, then made his way to the couch, where he flopped down in a degected heap.

In the other room it was silent for a few minutes, before he heard John ask something. He was pretty sure he'd said, "Should I go check on him?" But it was hard to tell. He heard Rose's answer clearly though- "No." Of course -as she'd obviously intended for him to hear it.

He knew he was being moody and weird, and above all, _completely _uncool, but he couldn't help it. He buried his face into the couch cusions and listened to their muffled conversation, wishing- and not for the first time that night -that Rose and Kanaya would just go home.

* * *

John's P.O.V.

Rose and Kanaya stayed for a couple of hours after they'd finished dinner before going home. Dave had stayed in the livingroom, only coming in once to grab something from one of the cabinets above the sink and glare at Rose for a moment. Rose had scoffed and called him an alchoholic, and in turn Dave had called her a witch.

And now they were gathered around the door saying goodbye. Dave was still on the couch, of course, and hadn't bothered responding when the two women had said their farewells to him. "It was very nice meeting you, John. I do hope we can all get together and do it again sometime. Perhaps when Dave is not in such a bad mood." Kanaya said, whispering the last part so Dave wouldn't hear. She gave him a quick hug, which he happily returned.

"Yes, or perhaps next time we can just cut Dave out of it all together. He needn't come if he's just going to mope about and drink the whole time." Rose said. Unlike Kanaya she didn't hug him, although she did reach out to lightly squeeze his hand. "Don't worry about him, he'll just sit on the couch and pout until he passes out. That's all he ever does when he drinks." She said, loudly. Before he could respond he heard Dave yell from the other room, "Shut the hell up and fucking go home already! Jesus christ, don't you have anything better to do?" John flinched, and Rose rolled her eyes. The words were slurred and hard to understand, but the meaning was clear; he wanted Rose to leave, now.

"Well, this is goodbye, for now. Have a nice evening John, and don't worry about him. As I said, he'll simply sit on the couch and pout." With that she took Kanaya's hand and left. John shut and locked the door, then turned and went into the livingroom. Dave was draped over the couch, his head turned towards the TV. There was an infomercial playing, but he was sure Dave wasn't actually watching it.

When John approached he sat up, making room, although he didn't say anything. He sat down and waited, but nothing was said, and for a while they simply sat there, watching whatever was on in silence.

A few minutes into some documentary- it seemed like Dave only watched documentaries or kids shows -the couch creaked and Dave's head landed in his lap. "Sorry. I need to stretch out." He mumbled, stifling a yawn. John smiled down at him and shrugged. "It's okay. I don't mind." He said. Dave nodded, and John could sense that his eyes had slipped shut. As long as he wasn't mad anymore, John was fine with anything.

After a while Dave's breathing evened out and John's attention turned back to the TV. One of his hands moved to Dave's hair and he lightly ran his fingers through it. The blonde grunted and he froze, wondering if he was doing would be considered creepy. Dave made another small noise and lifted one of his hands to take John's. "Don't stop. It felt nice." He said.

"Oh, sorry. Did I wake you up?" He asked, returning to petting Dave's hair. "It's cool, I wasn't out yet."

John smiled down at him again and felt a warm stirring in his stomach. If there had been any doubt left in his mind, the past week had done away with it.

He really, really liked Dave Strider.

In fact, he might even really, really love him.

* * *

Dave's P.O.V.

When Dave woke up it was still night time, and he was still sort of drunk. The TV was on, but he could hear John snoring quietly above him. He slowly sat up, doing his best not to wake John. Despite his best efforts, he stirred, letting out a small moan.

Dave hauled himself from the couch and stretched, pausing to allow the room to stop spinning. He shook his head and slowly made his way to the TV, turning it off and cloaking the room in darkness. He turned his attention back to the couch, where he could sort of make out John's shape. He sighed and bent over, looping one of his amrs under John's knees, and the other behind his back, picking him up bridal style.

John stirred again and mumbled, "Dave? What're you doin'? What time s'it?"

"Shh, go back to sleep. It's late, I'm taking you to bed." He said, slowly making his way down the dark hallway and into his room. He gently laid him down on the bed, circled around to the other side and climbed in. He pulled his shirt off and shimmied out of his jeans, tossing his shades onto the floor near the bed.

He rolled over onto his side and moments later felt John, nuzzling into his chest. At first he was surprised, but that soon gave way to happiness as he pulled John closer. Usually he was the one to initiate anything like cuddling or hugging, although John had done so a few times. He sighed contentedly and fought to stay awake, not wanting to waste this oppourtunity.

After minutes of silence he heard John's voice, whispering something. For a second he wondered if he was going crazy, but then he heard him again. "John? Did you say something?" He whispered, straining his eyes to see his face.

"Yeah. I asked you if you were awake. I was just wondering..." He trailed off, sounding slightly nervous. "How...how do you feel about me? I mean, do you like me? Or are we just friends?"

The question caught Dave off guard, and he found himself unable to say anything. He thought his feelings for John were completely obvious. It wasn't like he went out of his way to hide it. If anything, it seemed like he went out of his way to make it _more _obvious.

"Nevermind. I'm being weird, sorry." He felt John rolling over and moving away, and reached out to pull him back. "No, you're not being weird. I was just surprised. I thought you knew that I like you." He murmured. "Does it bother you?"

"No! I mean, of course it doesn't bother me. I was just wondering." He said. It seemed like he had more to say, but instead they lapsed back into silence. For a while there was nothing but the sound of cars rolling by outside, and their own breathing, until John spoke up again. "Hey Dave. I just wanted to say thanks, again. You've been really great, letting me stay here and everything."

Dave smiled to himself and hugged John closer. "Of course. S'what best bros do for each other." He said, letting out a yawn. He felt John curling closer and smiled again.

This time, when sleep came for him he didn't bother to try fighting it off.

* * *

**And then there was fluff ^_^**

**On another note, I am so, SO sorry it took me so long to upload this! I had some serious writers block, and by the time I actually finished the chapter our wifi was acting up, so I haven't had any internet access for a while _;**

**Also, sorry if this chapter isn't as good as the others, I had to force the majority of it out. **

**And, of course, thank you for all of the lovely reviews, and I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! **

_**P.S. **_**I promise to try to never take that long to upload again.**


	6. Chapter 6

Dave's P.O.V.

When Dave awoke John was still sleeping quietly beside him. He carefully disentangled himself and sat up, searching the floor for his phone. Not seeing it, he stood up and yanked his pants up, finding his phone hidden away in one of the pockets. He unlocked it and saw that he had two messages, one from Terezi, demanding to know why that hadn't hung out in almost two weeks, and one from the manager of the club he was DJ-ing at tonight.

Oh yeah, he had work tonight.

He'd completely forgotten.

Fuck.

He groaned and tucked his phone back into his pocket, shuffling into the hallway and quietly closing the door behind him. He headed for the garage, not looking forward to hauling his shit into the car.

* * *

John's P.O.V.

When John woke up he immediately noticed was that Dave wasn't in bed anymore.

His first reaction was panic, although he knew it was completely irrational. Of course nothing bad had happened- Dave had simply gotten up first for once. Still, he couldn't help but think that Dave had decided to abandon him, or perhaps he was waiting in the kitchen, getting ready to tell John he had to leave.

He stumbled into the hallway, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Faintly he heard a muffled thump, and the sound of Dave's cursing. He walked to the front door and opened it, peering out into the driveway. Dave was standing near his car, trying to maneuver a large box into the backseat. Two smaller boxes had already been crammed into the back, and it didn't seem like the third wanted to fit.

He giggled and squinted his eyes against the sunlight, stepping outside and making his way to the car. "Need some help?" He asked, smiling. Dave grunted and nodded, once again trying to force the box to fit.

John made his way around to the other side of the car and opened the door, pulling out the first box- which was surprisingly heavy -and moving it to the front. The other box followed, stacked on top of the other, and Dave was finally able to get the larger one into the back.

"Jeez Dave what do you have in these things, rocks?" He exclaimed. Dave chuckled and shook his head, combing his hair from his face. "Just some stuff for work. Records 'n shit. Speaking of work, I gotta get going or I'm not gonna get everything set up in time." He opened the door to his car and, seeing John's confused look, paused before climbing in.

"I forgot I have work tonight, sorry. I should be back before one, but sometimes things go later than usual. Three at the latest."

John nodded circled around to the other side of the car, stopping to allow Dave to give him a quick hug before he hopped into the car.

"I don't think anybody's coming over tonight, but Rose might, you never know with her. I'm really sorry, I completely forgot." He said, leaning out of the car window. John smiled and shrugged, "It's no big deal. It's work, after all."

Dave smiled back at him and started the car, pulling out of the driveway and heading down the street at a speed that seemed a little less than safe. John watched him go with a smile, then turned and headed back into the house.

John was sitting on the couch, watching _Pranked _on _MTV _when his phone went off. He picked it up eagerly, thinking it was Dave, and turned down the volume on the TV. "Hey, Dave? How's w-"

He was cut off by the person on the other end- most definitely _not _Dave -and felt his blood run cold.

"Nice to hear your voice again, John. It's been a while, huh? I thought you'd come home in a few days, but..."

He felt his hand start to shake, but couldn't bring himself to hang up the phone. That voice- it made him want to hide, to run away in fear, but at the same time it made him feel...happy, in a twisted way.

"Nothing to say? It's fine, I understand. John, I just wanted to...apologize. The things I did to you were terrible. But I promise, I'll never do it again. So please...come home. Please. I need you."

Still he said nothing, taking a moment to let the words sink in. When he finally made sense of what he was hearing- Andrew _wanted _him to come back? He _needed_ him? -he found himself standing and heading for the door, the phone still held to his ear.

"I...I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm...sorry." He said, resisting the urge to beg for forgiveness. It felt like he was dreaming, watching himself pull his shoes on and leave the house, walking down the street to the bus stop. Still dressed in the clothes he'd gone to bed in- Dave's clothes.

Dave. He should probably have left him a note, but...no. If he did that, Dave might come looking for him, and there was no way he would ever be able to look him in the face again and say, "I was weak, and I couldn't stay away. Even when I knew it was wrong, I couldn't stop myself."

"Good. I'm glad." Andrew said, his voice radiating warmth. John could feel a perverse sense of happiness creeping up and tried push it away. The next words out of Andrews mouth did nothing to remedy the situation, either.

"I love you."

There was a small click, and the he knew Andrew had hung up. He pulled his phone away from his ear and checked the time; ten forty-seven. He could probably make it back to the apartment in an hour. And then...

* * *

Dave's P.O.V.

"I'm gonna take a quick break, I'll be back in a few." Dave called, pushing open the door the back alley and pulling his phone out. He checked his phone and found three new messages from Terezi, which he took a minute to answer, because he knew she would just continue to bother him if he didn't. To his disappointment there were no new messages from John, although several hours had passed since he'd come to the club.

He sighed and put his phone away, pulling the door open and heading back inside. They still had some things to set up, and it would probably take another half hour or so. Then he would head back to the house for a bit to hang out with John before it was time for the show to start.

* * *

John's P.O.V.

When John got to the apartment he was sweating, nervous, scared, and elated all at the same time. He stood in front of the door, his hand hovering in the air as he debated whether he should knock or simply enter. He still had his key, but considering he no longer live here- not really, he wasn't sure whether it was appropriate to use it.

He soon found he needn't worry, however, when the door was yanked open and he was pulled into a crushing embrace which left him gasping for air. After Andrew released him and allowed him to get his breath back, he looked up, nervously searching Andrew's face for any sign of anger. Much to his surprise, he could see nothing but joy and excitement.

He allowed himself to be led to the couch and sat down, finding it hard to pay attention to what Andrew was trying to say to him. He kept thinking that this was too good to be true- there was no way Andrew wasn't mad at him. He searched the other man's face, trying to find something, some hint of anger, some indication that something- _anything - _bad was going to happen to him.

He could find nothing- _absolutely nothing _- however, and for the moment allowed himself to relax, trying to push the nagging thoughts of guilt and doubt out of his mind.

* * *

Dave's P.O.V.

When Dave got home he found himself alone. He had searched the entire house- twice, actually -and could find no sign of John other than his dirty clothes lying on the floor of Dave's room. He tried not to psych himself out, telling himself John had probably gone out. He'd alway loved going to the library, right? Or maybe he'd gone grocery shopping- he did like cooking, after all.

Still, no matter what Dave tried to tell himself, he had a sinking feeling that John wasn't coming back. Whether he'd gone to someone else's house- unlikely, since John said he didn't have any other friends -or whether he'd gone...back to his piece of shit boyfriend, Dave could feel, deep down, that he wasn't gong to see John anytime soon.

Unless Dave went to get him.

Assuming John was where Dave thought he was.

Assuming John would even _want _to come home with him.

"You know what they say though..._assume_ makes and _ass_ out of _you _and _me_."

* * *

Will Dave go get John?! Will Andrew keep his promise?! Tune in next time!

Wow this chapter is short, I'm so so sorry everyone! I'm also sorry I was gone fopr so long! My mom got really sick and had to get surgery, so things were sort of tough for a while.

It's better now, though!

Man, I really had hoped to write a super long chapter and make an awesome comeback, but no dice e_e

The next chapter should be up within the next two weeks, hopefully. If you have any suggestions, leave them in a review and I will maybe (probably) put some of them into the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

John's P.O.V.

Days passed, turning into weeks, and before he knew it, an entire month had passed.

John found his thoughts continually turning to Dave, wondering how he was doing, what he was doing, whether they ever though about each other at the same time- which was stupid, of course. Dave probably hated him, hated how weak and cowardly he'd been, running right back when Andrew called.

He couldn't blame Dave; he hated himself, too. He knew it was wrong, coming back and pretending like nothing had ever happened, allowing things to fall right back into the way they had been. Allowing promises to be broken and old pains to resurface. But he still couldn't stop himself.

Things had been good, at first. He'd come home and Andrew had been kind, practically doing somersaults to make sure John was happy and satisfied, and in no danger of disappearing, blowing away like smoke in the wind.

Then things had started to turn sour. It started with something small; and accident, a broken plate.

_John flinched as the plate hit the floor, shattering and sending thick chunks of glass across the kitchen floor. He dropped to his knees, scrambling to scoop all of the pieces into a pile. He heard the couch creak, heard as Andrew approached. He could practically hear the anger in his footsteps and sensed what was coming before it happened._

_He glanced up and saw Andrew looming in the doorway, quickly turning back to the pile of glass on the floor. "S-sorry, I was putting it away and it slipped. I'll pick it up, j-"_

_His stuttering explanation was cut short as he was wrenched upward by the neck of his shirt, leaving him momentarily choked for air, and his arms flailed in an attempt to keep his balance once he was released._

_He heard the stinging sound of the slap, rather than felt it, though it didn't take long for the sensation to catch up with him. _

_He then felt hands, shoving him down._

_Then there was blood, flowing out in a rapidly growing pool of crimson, and his left hand was burning, and Andrew was crouched next to him, frantically apologizing and pulling him to his feet and out the door._

He shook his head and glanced down at his hand, feeling a slight throb, as though it too was remembering the incident. They'd gone to the hospital and Andrew had fed them some lie about how John had tripped and cut his hand open on some glass in the street.

John himself couldn't remember much passed that and had awoken the next morning with stitches in his hand and his cheek throbbing.

It didn't take long for it to happen again, though.

And again.

And again.

And now here he was, sitting home alone while Andrew was at work, wishing Dave would show up like a knight in shining armor and whisk him back in time, back to the days they'd spent together in Dave's small, but comfortable apartment.

He glanced at the house phone forlornly, wishing he had his own cellphone. Andrew had taken it at some point, and John had been too swept up in his disbelief of how things had actually changed to give it any thought.

He rocked forward and, for the umpteenth time, felt tears forming in his eyes.

He hated this; he hated sitting around all day, cooped up in the apartment with nothing to do, he hated being in pain all the time because of bruises and cuts that never really had the chance to heal, and most of all he hated _himself _because all of this was completely his fault. All he'd had to do was not answer his phone, or hang up when he'd heard Andrew's voice, or simply say _no _when Andrew had asked him to come home. But he hadn't and now he was in the same position he'd been in for two years, and nothing was ever going to change, and he had no one to blame but himself.

He settled onto his side and stared at the wall, letting the tears fall freely.

* * *

Dave's P.O.V

Dave stared down at his food, picking at it and occasionally taking small bites. Rose and Dirk were sitting across from him, Dirk looking fairly bored- although he though he saw some concern on his face -and Rose looking more than a little annoyed.

She'd scheduled this little dinner under the guise of 'sibling bonding time,' but Dave knew what it really was- and intervention.

He knew it was unhealthy, sitting in his apartment day in and day out, staring at his phone, oftentimes forgetting to eat unless someone made him, but he couldn't seem to care. John, although Dave had only known the kid for a couple of months at the most, had somehow become one of the most important things in his life. Talking whenever they had the chance, making plans that they never acted upon, and then the days he'd spent at Dave's house were like little bit's of light in the dark hole he'd felt himself sinking into for the past few years.

After highschool, when all of his old friends had gone off to college and left him, he'd begun to feel...lonely. When he met Karkat- the short, bad-tempered redhead -at a party and was introduced to the people he now thought of as his friend's- Terezi, Weylan, Nepeta -he found the lonliness disappear.

Soon it was back, however, and no amount of one night stands or drinking could seem to fill the hole.

And then he met John, and something had just clicked.

He wasn't a romantic, and 'love at first sight' hadn't even entered his mind when he'd met the kid- although, admittedly, he had found John attractive, in a dorky way. But more than that, it was probably the nervous air surrounding him, and the black eye, standing out even against John's tanned skin.

It was obvious what was happening to him, especially when Andrew had come into the bathroom and dragged John away, and Dave had felt an instinctive need to protect him.

Then John had called him, hanging up on his first attempt, and sounding nervous and awkward on his second; but Dave hadn't minded. He was happy John had called him, happy to have someone to new to talk to, and managed to push certain things out of his mind.

Like the way John sounded when they talked, briefly, about Andrew- sad, and slightly defensive. Or how he'd been the first night they met, with his black eye, and the way Andrew had grabbed him under the table.

But slowly, as he felt them growing closer, and the things Dave had been able to push out of his mind returned frequently to nag at him.

And then, when they were finally together, when he thought life couldn't get any better, John had left without a word, and there were no more phonecalls, no more plans, no more waking up next to the person he had somehow managed to fall for.

He wasn't even angry- no, instead he spent the first few days continuously trying to call John and being sent straight to voicemail each time. After he'd given up on phonecalls he'd driven to where he'd dropped John off the day they'd gone to the zoo, then walked around the neighborhood until he found John's apartment building. He stood outside for what seemed like a lifetime, telling himself that he was going to go inside and find John and drag him away, make him see sense and leave his good-for-nothing boyfriend once and for all.

But instead he'd turned around and slowly walked back to his car, not caring that it was about a million degrees out or that he couldn't quite remember where exactly he'd parked his car. After a while he found it and drove himself home, feeling nothing but exhaustion.

Then he'd sat in his room, curled up his messy bed which felt far too large for one person, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And for a month he waited for something that never came, until Rose had become fed up with watching him 'stew in his own depression' and 'slowly kill himself.'

So now here they were, sitting in the same restaurant in which he and John had first met while he picked at his food and Rose tried to think of what to say and Dirk sat looking rather bored, and somewhat concerned.

Rose took a deep breath and Dave looked up; he could tell that she was about to launch into a rant and steeled himself against the coming onslaught.

"Dave...Dirk and I have become concerned with your behavior as of late. At first we believed that you were simply shutting yourself inside again, but it's become obvious that it's more extreme than that. We think that it would be best if you went to talk to John about all of this, perhaps when his...boyfriend, isn't around." She said, pausing to grimace. "And, if you won't go and talk to him, then Dirk or I will." She finished, giving him a look that said she clearly expected an answer.

Dave looked to Dirk for help, but found nothing but the same expression he'd seen on Rose. He gritted his teeth and looked down at his food; this was _not _what he'd been expecting. He thought Rose was going to scold him, tell him to stop acting like a baby, man up and get over it- but this was Rose he was talking about, and of course she wouldn't say something like that. For all of her sarcastic and 'cruel' words, she'd always been there for him, always willing to lend her advice, whether it had been asked for or not.

And Dirk- well, although he'd also always been sarcastic and distant, he was still Dave's brother, and had always been there to offer comfort, even if it was only in small amounts.

He knew, deep down, that he shouldn't have expected anything less from the two, and it made him feel slightly better to know that they cared.

"I...I can't. He left because he wanted to, and...I can't make him leave. It was his choice to go back to..._him._" He said. His voice was hoarse, and he absently wondered how long it had been since he'd spoken that much.

Rose sighed and shook her head, "Dave, even if he doesn't want to come back, you need to talk to him. Clearly you aren't doing very well, and whether you realise it or not, John probably isn't doing much better."

Dave deflated; he could see their logic- well, Rose's logic -but some part of his mind kept telling him that John wasn't going to want to talk to him. That if he went there, and John answered the door, he was going to shake his head and shrug and say, "Sorry, but I'd rather be with him than you." And slam the door in Dave's face.

However, one look at Rose and Dirk's faces told him that they weren't going to back down, and he'd rather go to John's place himself than have either of them do it.

"Okay, I'll...I'll go over there tomorrow..." He said, receiving a gentle smile from Rose and a nod from Dirk.

* * *

Dave awoke early the next morning, his stomach tying itself in knots. The feeling didn't go away as he showered and got dressed, and he skipped breakfast, thinking it best if he didn't throw up on John in the middle of their talk.

If John would even want to talk to him.

He opened the his door and took a deep breath, and for a fleeting moment, thought about his eldest brother. Were he still around, Bro probably wouldn't made some snarky comment about how uncool he was acting and smacked him in the face with one of his stupid, creepy ass smuppets.

The thought gave Dave the courage he needed and he stepped outside, ready to do whatever it took to get Egbert back.

* * *

John P.O.V.

John sat on the couch, once again lost in thought. This time, though, rather than occupying himself with thoughts of how bad things were, he allowed himself to daydream- about Dave, about his father, about anything except his real life.

Some time between imagining that his father was still alive and pretending he was still at Dave's, he heard a knock at the door, effectively pulling him from his pleasant imaginings.

He frowned; it couldn't be Andrew, because he wouldn't knock, and it probably wasn't one of Andrew's friends, because they knew what hours he worked. He sighed and pulled himself from the couch- it was probably Ms. Faris. She liked to come by and check on him every once in a while, and her visits had only increased this past month.

He pulled the door open, putting on his best, 'Everything is fine, no need to worry' smile, and opened his mouth to greet her.

He stopped short, however, when he saw that it wasn't Ms. Faris, but rather Dave, looking tall and worried, and much paler and thinner than John remembered him being.

"Dave?" He breathed, hardly able to believe his own eyes. He wondered for a moment if he was still back on the couch, daydreaming, until Dave wrapped him in a tight hug. He stood stiffly for a minute before returning the hug enthusiastically.

Dave, what are you doing here? How did you even find which apartment we live in?" He asked, burying his face in Dave's shoulder, relishing in the familiar scent.

"I asked the guy down in the lobby and he told me. Seems like he's not a big fan of Andrew either." Dave said, leaning back, although his hands stayed firmly on John's shoulders.

John frowned at the mention of Andrew and glanced out into the hallway. Andrew wouldn't be home for a few more hours, but the way John's luck was he would end up getting out early, and then... "Dave, you have to leave, if Andy comes home and sees you here, he'll-"

Dave cut him off by clamping a hand over John's mouth and shaking his head. "John, I'm not leaving. Because...I love you. I love you, and I promise I'll never do anything to hurt you. So please, please be with me. I'm fucking _begging _you, leave Andrew and come home with me."

John stared at him in stunned silence, unable to formulate a response. His brain was still having a hard time believing that Dave was actually _here _let alone the fact that he wasn't even angry, and wanted John to run away with him, in a sense.

"Dave, I...I can't. If I leave, Andy'll come and find us, and when he does...he'll hurt you. Dave I can't, I can't let you get hurt because of me." He said, hating the way Dave's face fell, like he'd just been told he only had a week left to live. He snapped back quickly however, looking more determined now than he had when John had first opened the door.

"Egbert, I'm not leaving without you. I don't care if we have to go live in the Arctic with fucking penguins, you're not staying here."

John looked up at Dave, and suddenly the seriousness behind his words hit him. Dave wasn't kidding- he would literally take John wherever it took, as long as he wasn't here. He felt his legs give out beneath him and fell into Dave's chest, tears already burning at his eyes.

"Okay," He whispered, "Just...I need some time...two days. I have to get my stuff together, and then...and then can you come and get me?" He asked, afraid to look up, lest he see that Dave had suddenly had a change of heart in the time that it took him to answer.

"Of course." Dave murmured, and John felt a hand running soothingly up and down his back before Dave stepped back. "I'd better go, it's almost time for him to get back from work." Dave said, glancing down at his watch. John nodded, receiving one more hug and a gentle kiss pressed to his forehead before Dave turned and headed down the hallway. He paused and turned back, a small smile on his lips.

"Love you." He said, then frowned and added, "Be careful."

John nodded and ducked back into the apartment, his heart feeling as though it was going to hammer out of his chest. After all of his days of dreaming and wishing, he hadn't actually thought Dave would show up and sweep him away. He smiled and stumbled over to the couch, feeling like he could run a marathon.

There was, however, one thing flashing in his mind, effectively putting a damper on his giddy mood; Dave's face when he'd turned back and said, "Be careful."

* * *

Foreshadowing, my dear Watson.

Oh my, so many feelings

Hoo, so there ends chapter seven! Sorry it's a couple days overdue, I was being a lazy shit and procrastinating u_u But hey, what are you gonna do. I also apologize that it's rather short, I had to end here so I can do what's planned for the next chapter! I _promise _the next one will be at least 6,500 words, even if I have to sell my soul to get there.

The next chapter will also probably go more in depth with John's past, and you guys will probably hate me by the end of it.

The piece from John's perspective that was _italicized_ was a flashback, in case anyone was confused.

Also, can anybody guess who Dave's friend Weylan is supposed to be? Hint: His last name starts with a V.

Ten points for whoever get's it!

Ah, but anyway, thank you for reading, I hope you guys liked it! Leave a review, maybe?


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